8. Vinegar Hill was known colloquially as Irishtown

Vinegar Hill brownstones

Though not the only spot in New York known as Irishtown — Bay Ridge, Park Slope, and Breezy Point also had historically large Irish populations — Vinegar Hill was one of the more populous. John Jackson, who built a shipyard near Wallabout Bay, tried to attract Irish immigrants to the neighborhood even though Poles and Norwegians originally settled in the area, Many Irish immigrants eventually settled here in part due to its proximity to the Navy Yard, as well as the name Vinegar Hill itself.

After Jackson sold his land to the Brooklyn Navy Yard and helped build additional housing for workers, he named the area in honor of the Battle of Vinegar Hill, an engagement during the Irish Rebellion of 1798. The Battle of Vinegar Hill was the last attempt of the United Irishmen to defend its ground against the British military. The battle was a British victory, with 13,000 British soldiers launching an attack on the United Irishmen headquarters of Vinegar Hill. Casualties on the Irish side are estimated at about 500 to 1,200.